Mallick occupants recall evening of
destructive twister

By Chris Gibson
Skiff Staff

The newspaper and television accounts of the F-2 tornado that ripped through downtown Fort Worth on March 28, 2000, created a lasting record of the area’s devastation. But for those who were in their high-rise offices when the storm stuck, no photograph can ever do that day’s destruction justice. The memories they have are vivid enough.

Hardly a young building, the Mallick Tower celebrated its 30th anniversary a few years ago. Former owner George Mallick could never have imagined that the building he built “like a fort” would save the lives of so many people.

Special to the Skiff Tenants of the Mallick Tower were in disbelief that they were unharmed when a tornado all but destroyed the building shortly after 6 p.m. March 28, 2000.

It was a calm, cool March afternoon. Not unlike the days before or after the storm. There was hardly a cloud in the sky.

Sure the weather called for a chance of hail, but weathermen have been wrong before. Then out of nowhere, just after 6 p.m., a dark cloud of spinning dust came storming over the bluff on a collision course for downtown Fort Worth and the Mallick Tower. Tenant Christie Thornton whose computer-consulting firm faced the brunt of the storm recalls that night.

“I had watched the weather that morning and it called for a chance of hail,” Thornton said. “My business partner (Kevin McCann) and I both drive nice cars so I called him and told him he shouldn’t drive his (sports car) to work. I remember around 6 (p.m.) the weather started looking terrible so I asked Kevin if he would go move our cars under covered parking to avoid the possible hail.

“After watching Kevin get on the elevator I looked back out of the window of my office and couldn’t see anything. I turned off the light and it was right there. I screamed ‘tornado’ as loud as I could and ran into the middle of the building. All the while thinking, ‘Oh my god, I’ve killed Kevin.’”

After being joined by Thornton and others in the basement, McCann realized the violent force of the tornado.

“The one thing I remember is the enormous amount of pressure growing inside the building,” he said. “I don’t remember any sound but all of the dust on the floor rose up, and then it was all over.”

Unlike many of the buildings’ tenants, their damages were covered by insurance, and they were able to move to a temporary location and return to business within a few days.

A year later, Thornton said she realizes how lucky everyone in the building was. She said CompuSol Inc. is getting ready to move into its new office suite in a few weeks, on the eighth floor of the Mallick Tower.

“I don’t think it set in until recently,” she said. “I was watching a report on the tornado with pictures of our building. A few more feet and we all might have been dead.

“We are extremely happy to be moving back into the Mallick. With all we’ve gone through it’s like a family over there.”

Chris Gibson
cjgibson@student.tcu.edu